2000 Civil Servants on Strike

Two thousand civil servants began a three-day strike today in support of wage claims which the government wants them to put off until the end of the year. The officials, men and women without university training, rejected an appeal from Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir not to press their wage demands until their contracts expire. The strikers are also demanding that Histadrut recognize them as an independent union and attend to their claims separately from those of other civil servants.